Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after Wedbush raised their price target on the stock from $340.00 to $400.00. Wedbush currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Wingstop traded as high as $380.63 and last traded at $378.22, with a volume of 149767 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $369.90.

WING has been the topic of several other research reports. Stephens started coverage on shares of Wingstop in a report on Friday, April 12th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $425.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $340.00 price objective on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Wingstop in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Wingstop from $310.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $294.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,843 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total transaction of $3,658,428.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 17,107 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,771,901.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Michael Skipworth sold 10,843 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total transaction of $3,658,428.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 17,107 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,771,901.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kilandigalu Madati sold 1,472 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.87, for a total transaction of $500,288.64. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,450 shares in the company, valued at $1,852,291.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 14,901 shares of company stock valued at $5,120,605. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wingstop

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WING. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Wingstop by 29.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,626,558 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $292,520,000 after acquiring an additional 370,032 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Wingstop by 11.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,167,230 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $209,915,000 after acquiring an additional 121,134 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in Wingstop by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,107,852 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $284,253,000 after acquiring an additional 19,540 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Wingstop by 64.3% during the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,079,939 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $194,216,000 after buying an additional 422,727 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Wingstop by 155.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 873,385 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $224,093,000 after buying an additional 531,880 shares in the last quarter.

Wingstop Stock Up 3.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $11.24 billion, a PE ratio of 162.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.27 and a beta of 1.68. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $353.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $279.41.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The restaurant operator reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $127.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $120.47 million. Wingstop had a negative return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 15.25%. Wingstop's revenue for the quarter was up 21.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Wingstop Inc. will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.23%. Wingstop's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.45%.

About Wingstop

Wingstop Inc, together with its subsidiaries, franchises and operates restaurants under the Wingstop brand. Its restaurants offer classic wings, boneless wings, tenders, and hand-sauced-and-tossed in various flavors, as well as chicken sandwiches with fries and hand-cut carrots and celery that are cooked-to-order.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.